6-Month Androgen Suppression Plus Radiation Therapy vs Radiation Therapy Alone for Patients With Clinically Localized Prostate Cancer

Abstract

Prostate cancer–specific mortality (PCSM) following external beam radiation therapy (RT) for patients with clinically localized prostate cancer has been shown to be associated with the Gleason score, serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, and 1992 American Joint Commission on Cancer clinical tumor category at diagnosis.^1,2 Low-risk patients who have a PSA of 10 ng/mL or less, a Gleason score of 6 or less, and clinical category T1c or T2a disease have been reported to have PCSM estimates of less than 2% a decade following RT, whereas these estimates range from 12% to 30% for patients with higher PSA levels or Gleason scores at diagnosis.